"Never Trust a Happy Song"

In this case, I think I will trust one this time.

Last night I went to see Grouplove and Young the Giant at Terminal 5.  Four months ago, I initially got tickets because of YTG, but I've recently grown into Grouplove through some of their commercial and tv show exposure.

I got to the venue a half hour early, only to find out that they allowed people in, which was nice because it was cold outside.  Unfortunately, everyone had to head straight to the freezing rooftop to form a line until the "official" doors opened.  Once I got in, I rushed to the front of the stage, without considering the balcony area.  I figured that I was so close that I could get a good view of the front of the stage and get some decent shots with my phone (I called Terminal 5 ahead of time, and they do not allow professional cameras).  While the stage was setting up, I looked around and thought 'I'm pretty sure most of the people here are half my age!' I'll explain in a bit why this was really obvious.

First up was Grouplove.  You may recognize their first single "Tongue Tied" in the iPod Touch commercial that aired before Christmas:

Now you know why I felt so old there?

Anyway, Grouplove is one of those bands that brings so much energy to the stage which is why I love going to shows.  One unique quality I noticed was that even though there is a clear lead singer, just about all five members had a lead vocal in each of their songs.  I've also never seen a band that had so much interaction with each other on the stage.  You usually see musicians just stick to their spots and maybe move around in their general area where their guitar cords let them, but the Grouplove members were literally on top of each other...even the drummer. 

Up next was Young the Giant.  I first saw the group while I was volunteering for CMJ 2010, and they were my highlight for the entire festival.  Especially since I went the "randomly pick the bands" approach that whole week (CMJ has about 900 bands playing at various venues throughout the city for five days).  Seeing them this time was a little different, they definitely have evolved over the past year and a half.  Other than performing songs from their debut album, YTG premiered some new material that they have been working on.  I already can't wait til their new album is out!

Favorite moment of the night:
Young the Giant briefly mentioned their MTV Unplugged performance where they did a cover of The Gorillaz "Empire Ants", where I'm pretty sure I've watched the video about 100 times.  Next thing I know, a string quartet appears and I got to hear it live.

One last thought:

Grouplove - Instragram

Terminal 5 has great balcony sections, where you'll have more wiggle room, and can still get a great view of the stage.  I was down on the ground level, but I think I'll try the balcony area next time, instead of getting squashed by teenagers.

Young the Giant - Instagram